Clinton: U.S. Must See 'Concrete Actions' by Iran

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Iran must act by this month's talks with world powers in Moscow and take "concrete actions".

Contact Editor

Elad Benari, Canada, 02/06/12 01:31

Hillary Clinton in Oslo

Reuters

The United States appeared to set a deadline on Friday for Iran to ease world concern over its disputed nuclear program.

The Associated Press reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Islamic Republic must act by this month's talks with world powers in Moscow.

Speaking in Oslo, Norway, Clinton told reporters the U.S. would continue down the path of negotiations alongside Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Nations.

“Our negotiations with Iran have never been about intentions or sincerity, but about actions and results,” Clinton was quoted as having said after meeting top Norwegian officials.

She added the U.S. needed to see “concrete actions” at the talks in Russia's capital, which are set to begin June 17.

“We will know by the next meeting in Moscow in a few weeks whether Iran is prepared to take those actions,” said Clinton, according to AP. “There are lots of concerns that we continue to have about their intentions, but we will judge them by their actions. And we will determine whether those actions are sufficient to meet their obligations.”

Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said “Iran's window of opportunity is rapidly closing.”

“We will do everything we can to achieve a diplomatic solution but we do not intend to continue talks for talks,” Shapiro said during a Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv.

He added that the U.S. will be taking steps “to increase pressure” on Iran to ensure it does not obtain nuclear weapons.

His remarks came after a second round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – failed again to yield results as the West pressures Tehran to halt its controversial uranium enrichment program.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman hinted this week that the Islamic Republic may agree to negotiate its ongoing enrichment of uranium to higher levels, if the West recognizes it has the "right" to do so for peaceful purposes.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)